Senior executives in the hospitality industry are the most optimistic about the economy compared to their peers in other sectors, a new report has claimed.

In Ernst & Young’s Capital Confidence Barometer, just under 80 per cent of executives in the hospitality and real estate industries said they were optimistic about the economy.

Big Hospitality reports that this is significantly higher than the 66 per cent of executives in other non-related industries. Moreover, the report also revealed a renewed interest in investment in the sector.

“Not surprisingly, given the heightened sense of optimism among hospitality and real estate executives, a significant proportion are gearing up for what is expected to be an extended period of growth and transactional activity in the real estate and hospitality sectors,” said Ernst & Young in the report.

“In fact, 42 per cent say they are focused firmly on either raising or investing capital,” they added.

The renewed confidence within the industry was much better than results recorded just six months ago. The new figures could suggest that there could be a boom in hospitality bookings from event spaces to corporate venues and meeting venues.

“The outlook for M&A activity in the hospitality and real estate sectors seems to be brightening,” said Michael Fishbin, global hospitality leader at Ernst & Young, who was cited by HotelNewsNow.com.

“In October 2010, only 20 per cent of executives polled expected to execute a transaction in the next six months, but that figure more than doubled in our April 2011 survey,” he said.

The Capital Confidence Barometer polled 1,000 global firms including companies in the UK.